8 doctor employment contract items you need to know

Unless you start your own practice after training, you will sign a copy Employment contracts. This contract is essential to bridge the expectations of you and your employer. It also gives you the opportunity to show what you want from your work.

Your contract consists of many important terms and regulations, and it may not be that all terms and regulations are in your best interest. If you see any of these 8 related contract items when reviewing the contract, it may be time to negotiate.

8 doctor employment contract items you need to know

1. Unclear job expectations

There are many potential pain points in any work relationship. They include:

• • • work schedule
    • Office location
    • Call duty
    • Patient allocation
    • Research time

In many cases, the contract will have ambiguous parameters for your actual hourly work expectations. It might explain simple things, such as “full-time” or giving a minimum range of hours per week.

As with many contract terms, these hours/shift expectations should be clearly listed in the contract with objective parameters. You don’t want to be fooled by shifts that last four hours longer than you originally expected. And you don’t want to be required to work on vacation when you plan to take a vacation.

The job expectations seem to be very basic. This is why they are often overlooked and why they should be carefully considered.

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2. Unreasonable prohibition of competition

Most doctors who have gone through the process of negotiating employment contracts have been warned of non-competition clauses. After your contract is terminated, competition prohibits restricting you from working in a specific geographic area.

The typical radius is 2 to 50 miles. However, this largely depends on the settings of your work location (i.e. rural vs. urban). If competition prohibits you from practicing within a large area (50 to 100 miles), especially in densely populated areas, then you should consider negotiating these terms.

In addition, the duration and scope of restrictions should be reviewed to ensure that they meet market standards. Some states prohibit the prohibition of competition for doctors. In this case, the non-competition should be completely removed from your contract.

3. Delayed benefits

Welfare is an important part of attracting many doctors to work. In your contract, your employer should provide you with a benefit package that includes all or most of the typical components, including:

• • • Health insurance
    • Disability insurance
    • Paid vacation
    • Retirement plan

These benefits should take effect when you start working, but in some cases, you may need to delay to receive certain benefits.Therefore, it can be very dangerous without insurance at any time. cobra Cost should be the topic of negotiation.

related information: How much disability insurance does a doctor really need?

4. Where is the tail cover?

After terminating the employment relationship, you may be sued for incidents that occurred during your employment in the same organization. If your former employer did not provide you with tail insurance in your contract, you are responsible for paying this insurance premium.

The cost of tail coverage will vary from specialty to specialty. However, in many cases, it is more valuable than the signing bonus and should be carefully reviewed as part of the compensation package.

5. Unrealistic incentives

Most employers use some changes in the production bonus structure to reward your productivity. The production bonus system can be based on the following:

Each of these systems has advantages and disadvantages. However, it is important to ensure that the goals provided are achievable and fair. When negotiating these terms, access to market data is very useful.

6. The termination language is not clear

Every contract has a termination section which will explain the potential reasons for terminating your employment relationship. The content of this section should not be too long to overwhelm you. However, it should provide a realistic view of reasonable reasons.

This sets clear expectations for how you should practice within the organizational framework. Moreover, if you are terminated, it may help to file an improper termination lawsuit. The contract should provide fair termination procedures for both parties.

7. Compensation Clause

An indemnity clause is a contract clause in which one party is responsible for the damage caused by the other party-in this case, the organization that hired you. The compensation clause is very important. They should be equal to both parties in the contract.

Your employer does not want to be responsible for the losses caused by your negligent actions. Moreover, you should not take the risk for their negligence. Try to negotiate to get rid of unilateral compensation clauses that may make you liable for damages that your medical malpractice insurance cannot cover.

8. Intellectual Property

Are you interested in developing intellectual property rights? How about creating a social media follower? The terms of your contract should specify whether the employer has any rights to the ownership and income generated by the intellectual property rights created during your employment.

related information: Health Care Recruitment in the Technological Era

Bottom line

Whether you are negotiating your first employment contract or your tenth employment contract, it is important to read the contract specifications and seek expert legal advice if any part of it is unclear.

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This post was first published on March 8, 2017, and the author was updated on September 13, 2019 and July 20, 2021